 |
| White House National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby |
“Our policies… whether it’s about female service members — one in five — or female family members being able to count on the kinds of health care and reproductive care specifically that they need to serve, that is a foundational sacred obligation of military leaders,” Kirby said.
Kirby argued that government owes abortion services to active military members and their families, and he argued that women and their spouses would leave the military if the government did not provide it.
"What happens if you get assigned to a state—like Alabama—which has a pretty restrictive abortion law in place... What do you do? Do you say no and get out? Some people may decide to do that. What does that mean? That means we lose talent... It can have an extremely significant impact on our recruiting and our retention. Not to mention, it's just the right darn thing to do for people that raise their hand and agree to serve in the military."
Kirby's arguments assume that military women need the government to offer abortion so they can continue to serve. Military culture often pushes women to have abortions because childbirth and parenting would interrupt their service more than abortion. By rejecting motherhood, a woman can be a "good soldier" and continue to do her duty.
Valuing the mother's work efficiency over the humanity of her child is not a "sacred obligation." It is horrific. The military should instead encourage women to utilize the life-affirming already offered, and it should crack down on misogynistic pro-abortion culture.
The military currently provides 12 weeks of paid, non-chargeable parental leave to service members who have a child through birth, adoption, or a long-term foster care placement of at least 24 months. This is in addition to authorized convalescent leave for service members who give birth.
